If GE and Microsoft were the first movers to do away with performance ratings, Coca-Cola has taken the leap by moving to a monthly feedback mechanism.

The beverage major has moved to an agile method of working where conversations between line managers and employees now happen on a monthly-basis to see whether the individual is on track or a course correction is required. Under the new system, the manager can change and calibrate goals on a monthly basis.

“This is important to mobilise people to deliver goals that matter the most. The flexibility in framework enables everyone to put their best foot forward,” said Manu Narang Wadhwa, VP-HR, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia.

The new system of appraising employees covers the corporate business unit of Coca-Cola India, which has around 300 associates. Over the last seven months, around 80-85% managers have synced with the new system and are giving monthly feedback.

Coca-Cola India has 25,000 employees. The new system may be scaled up eventually in a gradual manner.

Globally, the parent, which wants to become a total beverage company, has repurposed its vision “to get ready for tomorrow today”, given that the world all around is changing. The beverage giant has tweaked its strategy to cater to shifting consumer preferences and growing health consciousness. The new performance enablement is a pre-requisite for bringing about such changes and a culture of agility.

“The old performance management system, where goals were set annually, provided limited opportunity to offer real time feedback. Given today’s business dynamics in a VUCA world, organisations need to have a dynamic system so that goals can be improved upon and individual performances bettered as per requirement,” said Wadhwa.

The new system that Coca-Cola India has adopted takes away the fixed mindset of having a single goalpost for an employee in a year.

“Today’s millennial workforce does not believe in one-time planned feedback. So we have done away with the lengthy process of long form filling that used to happen when performance management system was done on an annual basis. We have also introduced an upward feedback mechanism. Employees now have an equal voice to drive the change,” said Wadhwa.

Around 70-75% employees have offered upward feedback at Coca-Cola India. More companies are doing away with annual appraisals in favour of frequent feedback mechanisms. Annual appraisals are usually tedious and put pressure on managers to complete the task of appraising employees for the entire year in a short span. Over the last few years, a number of companies like Accenture, KPMG, Deloitte have moved towards ongoing conversations on performance.